UNDIAGNOSED DEATHS - ZAMBIA (03): APOLOGY ****************************************** A ProMED-mail post ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases Date: Fri 30 Nov 2007 From: Marjorie P. Pollack, MD In the 29 Nov 2007 ProMED-mail posting Undiagnosed deaths - Zambia: RFI 20071129.3853, the moderator comment used the word "fun" as a tool to convey the challenges posed in attempting to create a differential diagnosis listing from a newswire that contained sparse information on the reported outbreak vis-a-vis clinical symptoms and relevant descriptive epidemiological data surrounding the outbreak. Unfortunately the the use of this word could be misinterpreted to convey a sense of flippancy on the part of the ProMED-mail moderator and editorial staff. Several of our subscribers have pointed this out to us following this posting. We deeply apologize for this error. We at ProMED-mail take our mandate seriously, and strive to maintain high professional standards. The intent of the moderator comment was to point out that in the absence of more precise information, the differential diagnostic list for a severe clinical syndrome with vomiting and backache is very large and encompasses viral, bacterial, and parasitic etiologies. The use of the Global Infectious Disease Epidemiology Network (GIDEON, available at ) to assist in identifying infectious agents known to produce such a clinical syndrome further supported a conclusion that more information was necessary to better narrow down the list of possible etiologic agents. In addition, the presentation of all prior ProMED-mail postings on outbreaks of human and zoonotic diseases in Zambia identified numerous prior outbreaks of infectious diseases mentioned in the differential diagnosis list generated using the GIDEON database that could be associated with the clinical syndrome reported in the newswire. All of this contributed to our "Request for Information" (RFI), hoping that knowledgeable sources in the affected region would respond and assist in identifying the etiologic agent responsible for the reported morbidity and mortality in this outbreak. Again, we deeply apologize for the poor choice of wording in the moderator comment. -- Marjorie P. Pollack, MD Associate Editor/Epidemiology & Surveillance Moderator ProMED-mail